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An essay on the power of forgiveness
An essay on forgiveness
An essay on forgiveness
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Angel Orellana Professor Ross English 101 October 14 2015 Bill Clinton “I have sinned” audiences In Bill Clinton’s speech “I have sinned” showed that Clinton realized the mistakes he has done to others and ask them if he can ever be forgiven and not committing the same mistakes again. Clinton is sorry for the bad errors he had done and he has repented for what he has done and promises to make a better nation. In life, we all do bad things, but we tend to realize the mistakes we have done and we repent of what we had committed, so we could be a better person and the others around us would still have trust in us. Before we ask to forgive others we should actually forgive ourselves because what we have done not only affected the others but affected us emotionally because you feel guilty for the bad actions you caused to others. Usually it is us who …show more content…
have to make an exam of conscience and realized what we have done is bad and makes an effort on not doing the same error again. Then we could forgive others around us, once we have forgiven ourselves. In Bill Clinton’s speech we see that his intended audiences that day on Friday September 11, 1998 were God, Monica Lewinsky and the American people. Bill Clinton was sorry to God because he repented for what he had done for committing sins and will try to be a better person he can. Bill Clinton said “genuine repentance… a broken spirit… an understanding that I must have God’s help to be the person that I want to be” (History Place). This quote shows that Bill Clinton needs to change his lifestyles, and repair the bad actions he has done and only with God’s help; he could be a good person to do good things and not bad things. As we see, it shows that Bill Clinton mention God because he is the person that will guide him to a good path of forgiveness and repentance. He also stated “a renunciation of the pride and anger which cloud judgment, lead to people excuse and compare to blame and complain” (History Place). This quote shows that Bill Clinton will not compare and make excuses of the bad actions he had done. He had to see for himself and realized that it was wrong what he did and that he needed a change in his life, so he could feel an internal peace and not feel pride and anger to himself. Bill Clinton was sorry to Monica Lewinsky and her family because of the problems she had been and the sexual encounters they had, while Bill Clinton being with Hillary Clinton.
As Bill Clinton name was being mention “Clinton goes on national TV to admit he had an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky” (CNN). This quote showed that Clinton realizes that he had to say the truth of what happened between them since he would always be denying that they had no relationship. This was the first step that Clinton had to do, to be sincere of what happened between them and later apologize for his bad conduct he had with Lewinsky, since he was having a relationship with Hillary Clinton. He mentions that “It is important to me that everybody who was been hurt know the sorrow I feel is genuine… Monica Lewinsky” (The History Place). This quote shows that he is feeling bad for what he had done to Monica and ask her if he could be forgiven due to the bad actions he had done to her that cause pain to her in the heart and that he was unfaithful to his wife Hillary Clinton that cause her pain as well as he did it to
himself. Lastly he mentions that he is sorry to the American people that he has not been doing his job done correctly. Since he was viewed that he was unfaithful to Hillary Clinton, the people would view him that he would not be loyal to them. Then he started to ask their forgiveness by mentioning “I will intensify my efforts to lead our country and the world toward peace and freedom… hope that with a broken spirit and a still strong heart I can be used for greater good”(History Place). This shows that he will do his best to make sure the American people could trust in him and believe that he will make United States a better nation. Lastly he mentions “In this case, it may be a blessing because I sinned. And if my repentance… maintain a broken spirit and a strong heart, then good can come of this country as well as for me and my family”(History Place). This quote shows that Clinton realize the mistakes he had done mistakes in the past, but he will put effort on making the nation a better place and having trust on him again. We see that Bill Clinton was truly sorry for what he had done due to the book he read “ The Gates of Repentance”. He started off by saying sorry to God for the bad actions he had done and that God wants him to be a better person. He mention Monica Lewinsky and the American for bad conduct he had with Lewinsky and the fact that the American would believe that if he is unfaithful to his own wife, then he would not be loyal to the American people. In life, it takes time to realize the bad actions we had done and that we need a change in our life by repenting what we had committed and forgive the others for hurting their feelings.
Lewinsky was an unpaid intern and later became a paid staffer at the White House. In the beginning of the case, Monica Lewinsky did deny having sexual relations with the President. Starr then found tape recordings of telephone conversations of Lewinsky describing her relationship with the president. Clinton tried to cover up the affair by having his advisor Vernon Jordan to have Lewinsky lie or having a job outside Washington.
Before Clinton was elected President he had an encounter with Paula Jones in a hotel room. After Clinton took office Paula Jones then sued Clinton for sexual harassment. A short time later Monica Lewinsky began her intern at the White House. Clinton and Lewinsky began a sexual relationship. Judge Kenneth Starr was the investigator of Whitewater. President Clinton denied any sexual relations with Lewinsky. On October 8, 1998, the House would vote to have an impeachment and won. Clinton was charged with perjury and obstruction to justice. Bill Clinton would end up not getting kicked out of office by senate.
None of this would have been much of a problem had Monica Lewinsky had not told Tripp that Bill Clinton and Vernon Jordan instructed her to lie about the affair with Clinton. Supposedly Linda Tripp has Monica alleging this on tape. These tapes if finally released to the public should prove to be quite titillating, Monica Lewinsky claims that Clinton was very fond of oral sex and that she it to him on a number of occasions. It has been alleged by various news organizations that a secret service agent actually caught Lewinsky and Clinton in the act. It has also been alleged that Monica Lewinsky has a blue semen stained dress which, if true, would be direct DNA evidence of the affair. But it still would not prove obstruction of justice. If that was ever proven it could be an impeachable offence, a sexual scandal probably would not lead to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. If not then it will simply be a source of Bill Clinton jokes.
Personally, I make mistakes every single day. For example, over this past winter break, my Mom bought our entire family tickets to the Seattle Boys Choir for the night I got home. Instead of going to the concert with my family I ditched them to go to a party at my high school friends house. My Mom was really hurt by my lack of recognition of her hard work to create a special memory for my family and I. All she wanted to do was spend time with me and I blew her off for something pointless. When I do something I regret, I hope that whoever afflicted would find it in their heart to see that I was sorry, and that they see that given the chance to re-do the situation, I would choose to change my actions. To be clear, I am not in the slightest defending or validating the actions of the Nazi regime during the time of the Holocaust. But as a person who has regretted certain actions or decisions I’ve made, I can understand the root of his need for forgiveness. The Nazi’s plea for forgiveness points toward his recognition of fault. Many Nazi’s were operating on the mindset that the atrocities they were committing were actually in the right. This Nazi, seeing the error in his actions, shows that he realizes what he did was wrong. For some people, the request for forgiveness isn’t enough to justify the act of giving it. In my opinion, if the person who is requesting the forgiveness is genuine in their motives, then they deserve
On August 17, 1998, exactly one year after making the statement above, President Bill Clinton prepared to deliver a speech concerning a scandal that had gripped the nation for months. It is needless to say that this was an important moment during the Clinton administration. After accusations of sexual harassment, Clinton addressed the nation and admitted to having a relationship with Monica Lewinsky. In this critical speech Clinton set out to admit to wrong-doings, provide a few reasons for his action, and ultimately persuade the audience into moving on and forgetting the scandal. This essay will break down his speech into sections and examine the most and least effective strategies that Clinton employed and how well he executed those strategies. This is an interesting speech given under rare circumstances. Not since Watergate had an American president been under such harsh moral criticism from the public. By looking critically at this speech we are able to gain valuable insight into Clinton's motives.
In August 17, 1998 Clinton, after seven months of silence, Clinton finally admitted that he had an inappropriate relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In a four-minute apologia speech, Clinton formally apologized for his personal misconduct, and at the same time, asked for support from the people to stop the lawsuit and accusations that came from the scandal. Clinton carefully and skillfully made use of logos and pathos throughout the speech to convince the audience that there were bigger issues at hand than his personal dealings with Monica Lewinsky. Therefore, he believed that this matter should no longer be the focus point of the nation, and it was about time to move on.
Holocaust Survivor, Simon Wiesenthal says, “Today the world demands that we forgive and forget the heinous crimes committed against us. It urges that we draw a line, and close the account as if nothing had ever happened” (Wiesenthal 97). However, they can forgive whenever they like but they can't never forget what happened to. Simon later second-guessed himself on not forgiving Karl, a Nazi. He had a choice and he picked not to forgive Karl, but he was not sure if that was the right thing to do. Simon had to ask others in the camps if that was the right decision. Wiesenthal was hard on himself weather to forgive Karl. Then he had to go ask other Jews and he even went to talk to his mom. But how do they know now what Wiesenthal feel because he didn't even know himself. Wiesenthal states, “Forgetting is something that time alone takes care of, but forgiveness is an act of volition and only the sufferer is qualified to make a decision” (Wiesenthal 97-98). On the other hand, how can he not forget something so bad like the Holocaust and forgiving would help him. It would not make him sufferer. Eva Kor forgave, and she probably would never forget what happened to her. She was healed and weight came off her shoulders after she forgive the
During his campaign, rumors and lawsuits regarding sexual affairs began to make Americans question his character, but Clinton was able to get the rumors under control and obtain his nickname “The Comeback Kid” (Kunhardt, Kunhardt, & Kunhardt, 1999, p. 430-433). He won the presidential election in 1993 by a large amount and was the first president of the baby boomer era. Clinton had tremendous potential in office, but issues about his personal life kept reappearing in cases such as Jones v. Clinton. According to Daniel Cohen (2000), these issues did not stop him from winning his second term election by an even bigger margin than his first (p.10). Though, in 1998, the Lewinsky scandal broke, a scandal that changed how Americans thought and talked about their political leaders forever. Most Americans believe this scandal was the sole cause of Clinton’s impeachment; however it might have been his corrupt moral compass that ultimately led to his removal from
Asking for forgiveness is a way of repenting from one’s action, but forgiving the person who committed an atrocity is another story--- it is a life changing decision for the forgiver, and it gives the person who asked forgiveness a lighter heart. As most religions believe, forgiving someone should come naturally; it is expected from us. Although it is easy to condemn someone, especially when we are aware of what they did, the wisest way to deal with such situation is to forgive them. In The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness, Simon Wiesenthal shares us a vivid story of the nightmare he had been through during the Nazi regime from 1941 to 1945. During Hitler’s rise to power, he commanded all of his SS soldiers to persecute all Jews and other
Lately, the top story in the news day after day, months after months have been about William Jefferson Clinton, also known as Bill. Who could blame them, there is nothing better than a story out of the ordinary, especially one with presidential status. For the past months he has been the most talked about figure, being the essential topic for news, talk shows, late night comedy and even going as far as the big screen. Talk about 'Primary Colors' and 'Wag the Dog.' What has gotten to me the most however, were the constant flow of Republicans, along with a few Democrats, who just want to say how shocked and embarrassed they are along with the people of the United States.The president had not just become the most talked about figure, but also one history had ever seen, so far that is, breaking the record and becoming a topic of conversation and debate 'twenty-four seven.' The people, who I think were most affected by this crisis and feel very sad for, are the Republicans, since they had lost severe amount of sleep over the president's bedroom crisis. They had to perform their republican duties by shocking our brains with the president's affair with Monica Lewinsky. We had to ignore the rest of the world news and its issues while they plough through the valley of lies, abuse of power and something they called high crimes and misdemeanors.
When it comes down to forgiving someone one has to make that decision to; forgiveness is not something one can carelessly over-look. Worthington and McCullough state that “[D]ecisional Forgiveness involves a change in a person’s behavioral intentions (hence a change in motivation) toward a transgressor.) (4) Decisional forgiveness is more than simply saying the words, “I forgive you.” It is a decision that one really has to absolutely mean. According to The Oxford English Dictionary, “Forgiveness is the action of forgiving; pardon of a fault, remission of a debt, or Disposition or willingness to forgive.” (70) The definition of forgiveness is not continually bringing up the offence. Decisional forgiveness is a decision, made by the individual who was wronged, who truly is willing to forget the whole event because they realize the other person is remorseful. Loving the person after a wrongdoing shows commitment and physically shows the offender they are really forgiven. This is how true forgiveness should be carried out. But different people have different ideas of what forgiveness is. Some people believe they can offend a person and easily ask for forgiveness from that person later. This is not how forgiveness should be look...
The speech, written in long hand by the president, was delivered at the beginning of a day of tremendous political and personal turmoil surrounding the publication of the first report to Congress by Independent Counsel Ken Starr. The Starr Report, published on the Internet about 2 p.m. on Friday, laid the grounds for possible impeachment of the president, accusing Clinton of perjury, obstruction of justice and other offenses in connection with his sexual affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
One of the defining characteristics of human nature is the ability to discern one’s own faults, to be broken as the result of such faults, and in response, to seek a meaningful change (French, 2003). Love, forgiveness, and trust are critical foundation values of leasers in transforming lives and sustaining relationships (Caldwell & Dixon, 2010) Forgiveness can facilitate that change. Forgiveness is something that I am very familiar with as I struggle with in my life. Forgiveness is a mental pushing off point that is acted out by moving forward in life and moving past the wrong doing. Forgiveness is not forgetfulness and does not allow the wrong doer the right to do wrong again to the one that has forgiven. As an employer and leader in a for-profit and a non-profit organization I have learned forgiveness. There is a time and place for forgiveness. Forgiveness and reconciliation have been shown to be beneficial alternatives to revenge as responses to an interpersonal offense in the workplace (Palanski, 2012). As a leader revenge and retaliation are not only the wrong paths they can lead to intemperate and callous leaders (Johnson, 2012). Leaders have a responsibility to themselves; their organizations, and their followers, leaders who do forgive have a greater respect and trust within their circles (Johnson, 2012). I believe that the first mental process of forgiveness is empathy and to have true forgiveness you have to have internal values of love, forgiveness, and trust.
Every day people have to face situations, big or small, that they have to forgive. This could vary from getting nudged in the hallway to being violated by a loved one, and everyone at some point in his or her life has to face something that seems unforgivable. Eventually we all have to ask ourselves is anything truly unforgivable.
Forgiveness is the act of releasing an offender of any wrong or hurt they may have caused you whether they deserve it or not. It is a decision to let go of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group of people. When we choose to forgive, we’re wiping the slate clean, cancelling a debt, or as I love to say, “Letting it go.” In the Bible, the Greek word for forgiveness literally means to “let it go.” This concept, “forgiveness,” is easier said than done. Majority of people find it very difficult to let go of offenses and hurts caused by others. I really do believe that most people desire to let it go, but we lack the knowledge of how to do it. As believers, we are instructed by God maintain an attitude of forgiveness.